Ganado ready for Brackettville after week off

Aggressive is one word Ganado coach Jimmy Thompson used to describe opponent Brackettville after he saw them defeat Weimar last week.

"They run the ball very well; Offensively they do a very good job, we're going to have to play well to be able to stop them," Thompson said.

Ganado (8-2) will play Brackettville (10-1) Friday night in Three Rivers for the Class 1A, Division I area game.

The Indians are coming off a first-week bye as they were the District 15-1A champions.

"That first week, we worked on fundamentals, and worked on trying to get people healthy again. By the 10th week of the season, you're all beat up, so we took that time to refresh ourselves," Thompson said.

This is the second straight playoff appearance for the Indians. They fell 34-21 to Weimar in the area round of the playoffs last season.

Since the beginning of the season, Thompson said the team has changed up their strategy.

"We're still doing a lot of option stuff out of different formations," he said. "The reads are different, doing a lot of different things than in the beginning of the year."

The Indians have won four straight games, losing only twice this season to Flatonia and Hallettsville.

Senior running back Clay Vesely has rushed for nearly 1,200 yards and 14 touchdowns this season.

Along with Vesely, senior quarterback Ray Salazar has been leading the team in a victorious direction, Thompson said.

"He's been a good leader. He's run the option extremely well, done a great job of carrying the ball," he said. "He's averaged five, six, seven yards a carry for the last five or six weeks. He's really stepped up."

Brackettville running back David Ortega has rushed for 1,884 yards and 26 touchdowns, and has 227 receiving yards and one touchdown.

Thompson said Brackettville is a team to be prepared for, and the Indians are refreshed and ready for the Tigers.